Latest High-end Smartphones from Asus, Huawei and ZTE Gain Support for Google Daydream

When Huawei debuted the Mate 9 early last November, it stated that the device would be Daydream-ready or in other words, it would arrive with ready support for Google’s own mobile virtual reality platform, Daydream. Some of us were skeptical about that assertion bearing in mind that the standard Mate 9’s display resolution peaked at full HD.

Our worst fears have been confirmed by Google parading the four devices that will soon have support for Daydream, Huawei’s Mate 9 Pro and Mate 9 Porsche Design, Asus’ latest Augmented Reality phone aptly named Zenfone AR and a not-so-new face, ZTE’s Axon 7 which will gain support for Daydream when it starts receiving the Nougat update.

Both the Huawei Mate 9 Pro and the Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design have Quad HD resolution displays making them ideal for use with a virtual reality headset unlike their standard counterpart.

According to Google, Huawei has been hard at work on its own Daydream VR headset with “an adjustable focus so it can be used without eyeglasses, and provides a 95° field of view”. It is not yet clear when we’ll get to see Huawei’s Daydream VR headset.

Google’s own VR headset, Daydream View, went on sale late last year.

According to industry research firm Canalys, over 2 million virtual reality headsets were shipped in 2016. This year, that number is expected to rise driven by among other things, the increased availability of VR-capable/ready devices like the ones from Asus, Huawei and ZTE.